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Hello community, it has been a long time since I logged in (July 2014). I wanted to respond since I may have one of the older tegus on here, Gibson is at least 13 now, possibly even older. He was at least a year old when I rescued him in 2003 from an owner that was feeding him cat food. The reason I share is because he has always seemed runt sized, compared to the size of some of the hogs I see on here. I also made nutritional and lighting mistakes as I learned about good ownership over the first few years. Even with all of that, my tegu is very healthy, strong, and active today. He has only been to the vet once ever when I was worried about him not eating, his blood work came back normal and it was deemed he was only cold or near hibernating. The only thing I've noticed from old age is perhaps eyesight issues. When he is looking down and trying to eat stationary food (eggs, ground turkey) he misses and misjudges position of the food compared to his mouth, such as biting a few inches from the item. I had concern he was struggling to eat or not getting enough so I started hand feeding most food with tongs, and now he will look up see the movement and catch the food in his mouth with no problem. I hope for the best for your old guy.

Hi Zarnach. Congrats on a 13 year old. I really like this old age thread that praises longevity rather than size. There are plenty of "largest tegu/animal" threads that congratulate owners on growing a huge animal, but health and overall size are not necessarily related, whereas longevity and health certainly are. And healthy is really the main goal.

My 11 year old gets mostly hand fed as well, not due to sight issues, just because I suppose the types of food I give him are easier to eat with some assistance and there is less mess. For instance, I feed him herring using tongs, which he swallows immediately. If I put the herring on a plate and let him eat it himself, he would tear it apart and make a huge stinky mess.

Other food like veggies and fruit I have found are very easy to feed him using a flat bamboo spatula (sort of like feeding a child with a spoon). Doing this has opened up a whole new world of foods that he would never have eaten on his own because he will take almost anything from the spatula, including steamed kale, dandelions, and almost any vegetable. So his vegetable consumption has gone way up to the point that they are the majority of his diet.

I can't say for absolute certainty, but I have a tegu that was retired to me from my old lab, and if it was one of my original research specimens, that would put him at 17 years. I however suspect he isn't one of mine and may have come from another cohort after I left the lab, but I cannot get confirmation on that.

Update: after years of eating about 3x a week he now eats almost every day and is now 3" longer than last time I measured probably 2 years ago. I can't believe the health and growth of this old timer, he's been a great pet with exemplary behavior.